Poll: Few in U.S. Deterred From Travel

travel, holiday travel

By Associated Press&nbsp|&nbsp

Posted: Fri 11:01 AM, May 23, 2003&nbsp|&nbsp

Updated: Fri 11:56 AM, May 23, 2003

Americans are worried about terrorism and the economy these days, but an Associated Press poll finds most aren't going to let that interfere with their vacation plans.Most people say they'll travel by car this year, the poll said, and plan to spend $1,500 or less on their getaways.

Four of five in the AP poll said problems with the economy and terrorism will have no effect on their vacation plans.

Some others said they would postpone or cut back their vacation travel, but only one in 20 said they would cancel those plans, according to the poll conducted for the AP by ICR/International Communications Research of Media, Pa.

Just over one in 10 said they would postpone or scale down their vacation plans.A fourth in the poll, 25 percent, said they plan to vacation in-state, while almost six in 10, 58 percent said they plan to travel to another state. Fifteen percent said they would travel outside the country.

The number traveling by car on their vacations jumped from less than half in May 2001 to about six in 10 a year later, after the Sept. 11 attacks. It remains at that level in this poll.

Just over a fourth, 27-percent, said they would travel by plane, down from a third in 2001.

People who live in the West were more likely to travel by plane than people in other parts of the country. People in the South and Midwest were more likely to travel by car.About half said they would spend the same amount on their vacation this year as they did last year and the remainder were about evenly split on whether they would spend more or less than last year.

The biggest number in the poll, 34 percent, said they would spend between $500 and $1,500. Almost that many, 29-percent, said they would spend less than $500. Those results have showed little change from a 2001 AP poll.

The new poll was taken May 14-18 of 1,020 adults and has an error margin of plus or minus three percentage points. It was taken before the Bush administration raised the terror alert to high early this week. This is the fourth time the terror alert has been raised to high.

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